Download Suitability Checklist

The following checklist is a tool to determine whether you/your child’s learning
difficulties are typical of those addressed by the Arrowsmith Program. While each
participating school will have its own enrolment and admissions process, this
checklist can help you determine Arrowsmith’s suitability for you/your child.
Note:
Some of the descriptors below might also sound familiar to the experiences of
individuals with autism, developmental delay, brain injury or illness, or emotional or
behavioural disorders. Please note these features are beyond the scope of the
Arrowsmith Program and cannot be addressed by the Arrowsmith Program.
DETERMINING ARROWSMITH SUITABILITY CHECKLIST:
The most common cognitive areas and their associated difficulties are listed below.
Please check off any characteristics that resonant with you/your child’s experience. If
completing this from your own perspective, please consider both your current
experience and any recollections from your school career.
Please note that only a few examples of each cognitive difficulty are listed here.
For further examples of these cognitive difficulties, please consult the Chart of
Learning Outcomes and the detailed descriptions on the website: Learning
Difficulties Addressed
Motor Symbol Sequencing
 Messy handwriting, and/or neat but effortful handwriting
 Miscopying letters or numbers, making “careless” errors
 Difficulty completing written timed tasks
 Losing place when reading; misreading a known word; skipping letters, words or
punctuation
Symbol Relations
 Below grade level reading comprehension; difficulties with symbolism, metaphors
 Difficulty with logic puzzles eg. Sally is taller than Joe but smaller than Mary
 Understanding conceptual material found in mathematics and science
 Difficulty considering another point of view, seeming “inflexible”
Memory for Information or Instruction
 Difficulty remembering information, instructions, details from conversations
 Difficulty remembering details heard or read
 Appears “forgetful” or irresponsible
Predicative Speech
 Communication can be non-sequential or incomplete
 Difficulty learning and following procedures
 Trouble putting thoughts into own words
Broca's Speech Pronunciation
 Difficulty learning to read through phonics-based programs
 Mispronounces words, or avoids new or unusual words
 Difficulty learning foreign languages
Symbolic Thinking
 Trouble keeping attention to the important details of a task
 Tendency to be distracted by irrelevant information or fall off-task
 Problems being self-directed; self-organized; taking initiative; completing tasks
Symbol Recognition
 Difficulty learning to read and spell, trouble recognizing words seen before
 Slowed reading speed because each word appears ‘new’
Lexical Memory
 Trouble learning the names of things like days of the week or colours
 Difficulty building vocabulary
Artifactual Thinking
 Difficulty interpreting facial expressions, body language , voice tone
 Impulsive tendencies – jumping in without considering the consequences
 Passive tendencies– difficulty in self advocating or asking for help
 Appearing to lack “common sense”
Object Recognition
 Difficulty visually recognizing and locating objects
 Trouble remembering landmarks, faces, places they’ve been before
 Trouble with games such as Where’s Waldo, Memory, puzzles
Supplementary Motor
Relying on fingers and calculators to count
Difficulty calculating change
Difficulty learning multiplication tables and number facts
Difficulty with time management
Thank you for completing this checklist.
The Arrowsmith Program is designed for individuals who are of average to above
average intelligence and have any number of the cognitive difficulties described in this
checklist. If you/your child fit this profile, the Arrowsmith Program is suitable.
Please feel free to use this checklist to approach a school offering the Arrowsmith
Program. Each school will have their own enrolment criteria and process which will
include conversations between the family and the school and the sharing of information
about your/your child’s learning history. Please note an Arrowsmith assessment is
neither required nor available to determine suitability. While the Arrowsmith
Program cannot guarantee admissions into a school’s Program, this completed
checklist can be helpful in determining suitability.
For a list of participating schools go to: Click here for a List of Participating Schools
If there are currently no schools in your area and you would like information on how to
advocate for the program please go to: Click here for Advocacy Brochure
We hope you found this process useful in identifying the Program’s suitability for
you/your child, and considering the difficulties that can be fundamentally strengthened
by participation in the Arrowsmith Program. Regrettably we are unable to review your
completed checklist; please do not return to Arrowsmith Program.
For further information on the Arrowsmith Program please visit
www.arrowsmithschool.org
Kind Regards,
Arrowsmith Program